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The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Friday, Feast of St. John Marie Vianney, Patron of Priests, 04 August 2023
Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 ><}}}*> + <*{{{>< Matthew 13:54-58
Praise and glory to you, God our Father for the gift of St. John Marie Vianney, our Patron Saint, your priests! Oh what a glorious day is this day falling on a First Friday, a day special to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Eternal Priest. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord.
From the very start as we have heard from the Book of Leviticus in the first reading, you have set special days of celebrations to remember you and your saving works; at its service are your priests. Always. But, no... We are not the center of your festivals, Lord, but your mere servants; how sad that since then in the wilderness down to your Temple up to our own time in these beautiful churches we celebrate the Holy Mass, we your priests have consciously or unconsciously turned attention and focus onto ourselves. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!
Forgive us your priests for playing God, O merciful Father. Help us to keep coming back to Nazareth like your Son Jesus; let us get lost in the hiddenness and silence of Nazareth; let us be at home with you in the obscurity and nothingness of Nazareth; let us welcome too the rejections of Nazareth like Jesus our Eternal Priest.
In all these 25 years as a priest, my prayer to you dear God remains the same: Lord, you have given me with so much and I have given you so little; teach me to give more of myself, more of YOU. In Jesus' name. Amen.
St. John Marie Vianney, pray for us priests!
